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2013 US Retailer Of The Year

SOUTHEAST

Alpine Ski Shop - Sterling, VA

Alpine Ski Shop was the brainchild of long time Washington, DC native Eddie Bunch, when in 1971 he turned his passion for the sport of skiing into a successful retail business serving the metropolitan area. The shop began in a small A-frame building in Vienna, VA and not long after was moved to a larger store to better meet the demands of the customer base. This was an untapped niche market, before the days of larger mass sporting goods retailers.

Eddie's wife Isabelle came on board to handle the finances and market the soft-goods side of the business, while Eddie continued to run the hard goods and advertising. Their son, Chris Bunch, took over operations of this Oakton,VA location in 1994. Chris' brother, Tyler Bunch, came aboard a few years later and managed a lot of the "behind the scenes" business that goes into running a successful retail operation.

In 1999, Chris opened a second location in Sterling, VA which has grown from 5,000-8,000sq. ft and continues to be the area's go to store for snow and skate needs. Upon opening this new venture, Tyler Bunch remained at the Oakton store through his parents' retirement in the early 2000's.

To keep up with the growth in Sterling, The Bunch family decided to close the Oakton location and focus on growing their business in Loudoun county. Chris and Tyler running the store, with Isabelle still keeping her soft goods buying skills sharp until her recent official retirement last year.

The Bunch brothers took the plunge to yet again dabble in multi-shop ownership as they branched out this season, opening another location in Fairfax, VA.

Alpine Ski Shop remains a full service, family owned and operated business that serves all of Northern VA's ski and snowboard market.

“The Show was awesome! Tons of traffic and excitement, which we were really excited about. We’ll be back every year moving forward. We’ve gotten new business from being here, and as a launch year, it’s been absolutely great.”Tracy Bordwell, Creative and Technical Design, Fate Clothing

"As a snow-sports journalist, I find the SIA Snow Show to be an invaluable resource. There's nowhere else I can survey all of the latest gear and get face time with interesting suppliers, retailers, athletes, and other industry movers all in one place."Sam Bass, editor-in-chief, Skiing Magazine

“You have everyone in one place, so you can see everything you need and get an idea of where trends are going. It’s a good overview of what’s going on in the industry. Last year we picked up a couple new lines that I wouldn’t have necessarily picked up had I not gone to SIA. The Show gets you psyched.”Jim Slanetz, Owner, Board Bin, ID

“From our standpoint, our line has gotten larger each year, and the exposure at the Show is huge. There are so many people here and this Show seems to grow every year, it’s really beneficial for our sales reps to be here.”Carrie Crogan, Trade Show Coordinator, Under Armour